Music Monday #15 The Thousands of Stars

Sometimes, I have very specific memories of music. I remember the very first time I listened to Angels and Airwaves. I was sitting in my boyfriend's car at a gas station on University Parkway, listening to the music he had playing from his ipod. I remember sneaking a look at the ipod while he was gone so I could find out what band it was. And as they say, "the rest is history" (for me and Angels and Airwaves at least).

Angels and Airwaves already had two CDs out by that point, so I had a great deal of catching up to do, but they quickly became my favorite band. For many months I listened to them exclusively. Being very formative and important years of my life, it's not too dramatic to say they got me through a lot. Even as I continue to listen to the music after all these years, I can think of thousands of associated memories. Some make me happy, some make me sad, and most always it, well, inspires me.

I think it is about time I do a Music Monday for one of my favorite songs from the band.

"Call to Arms" is from the band's second album, I-Empire. It is an amazing song and I've thought out many different interpretations for it. Today I am just going to pick out some lines.

"Have you ever felt a sad heart buried alive?/ You can do almost anything." 

The imagery in this line always gets me. In our moments of true desperation, when we feel truly forsaken and forgotten, the imagery of a sad heart buried alive begins to capture it. But this is followed directly by the line, You can do almost anything. It makes me think of a friend encouraging and lifting you up.

"And the thousands of stars come out thousands of times/ We can go, only if you believe/ Only if you believe."

A great deal of Angels and Airwaves music is centered around space and ethereal themes. Which again, makes the imagery of stars in the night sky absolutely stunning. I think back to times when I have seen the stars best. It was in isolated places, when the night was darkest. Only then are the stars most visible and bright. The stars have shown up in the night sky thousands upon thousands of billions of times. It is a pretty sure thing. The next line speaks to me about faith, believing. And how it is crucial in life.

"Do you feel like you've lost everything you can lose?/... Do you ever lay awake with a look in the eye?/ Asking God if a wish is too big to deny/ I will offer a line, and it's ready for use."

I think we've all had times in our life when even when surrounded by people we know love us, we feel so alone. This song always gives me hope. That desperation I was talking about, the feeling of not being able to lose any more than you have, are captured in these lines. Maybe it is the christian in me that likes the next bit. There have been so many times in my life where I have pleaded with God. Whether it is on my knees in prayer or lying awake at night, hoping in faith that my wish wasn't too big to be denied.

"When you can't go on, you got to get up and try/ This is it, can you feel me?/ When the bombs come down, you will make it alive/ But only if you want to believe." 

Again, I think of an encouraging friend who is right by your side. With the name of this song being, "Call to Arms" I appreciate the line about the bombs coming down, and making it out alive. Because in life we all have our metaphorical wars and battlefields. Call to Arms is a summon, an order, to take up and fight, which we all need to do to make it out alive.

This last little bit I love because I can never nail down what I think it means.

"I'd like to say, that you're my only fear/ and when I dream, it slowly disappears/ And when I wake, I'm right here by your side/ to feel your heart, beat in and out of time." 

I have a few ideas... but what are yours?